1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe that uses a piezoelectric element comprising a piezoelectric material deposited on a thin film. The present invention also relates to an ultrasonic image diagnostic device equipped with such an ultrasonic probe.
2. Related Art
There is a known conventional piezoelectric element (ultrasonic element) that comprises a piezoelectric material laminated onto a support film and is configured to vibrate the support film and emit an ultrasonic wave when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric material and causes it to vibrate (e.g., see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-229901).
The ultrasonic element disclosed in the above mentioned publication has a piezoelectric oscillator comprising a thin film of piezoelectric material arranged on a membrane and sandwiched between metal films serving as electrodes. With this kind of ultrasonic element, when a voltage is applied across the upper and lower metal electrode film layers, the piezoelectric material film vibrates and causes the membrane on which the piezoelectric material film is formed to vibrate such that an ultrasonic wave is emitted.